 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Keyumars | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ahriman, in the form of a serpent, suffocates the primordial bull, from which the primordial manKeyumars emerges. |
Keyumars orKiomars[a][b] is a legendary figure fromIranian mythical history, appearing in both theAvesta and theShahnameh.
In theAvesta he is the mythologicalfirst human being in the world. TheAvestan form means "the living mortal", fromgaya 'life' andmarətan 'mortal, human being'; cf. Persianmard 'human' (مَرد). The corresponding name inMiddle Persian is𐭪𐭣𐭬𐭫𐭲Kayōmart. InFerdowsi'sShahnameh he appears as the firstshah of the world. He is also called thepēšdād (پيشداد), the first to practice justice, the lawgiver.
According to theZoroastriancreation myth, Gayōmart, who was neither male nor female, was the firsthuman, or, according to theAvesta, he was the first person to worshipAhura Mazda. The Avestan formsMashya andMashyana appear as the male and female first humans; their names are versions of the wordmarətan 'mortal'.
In the eighth book of theDenkard, a reference is made to the lostChihrdadnask (one of the 21 volumes of theSasanian Avesta). Apparently, this volume dealt with how the world and mankind were created, including the creation of Gayōmart. References are also made to theVarshtmānsar nask, which also included information about Gayōmart which Ahura Mazda had given toZoroaster: "For 30 centuries I kept the world from corruption and decay, when the 30th century came to an end theDīvs assaulted Gayōmart ... But I finally repelled them and plunged them into the darkness".
A concise summary of the story of Gayōmart according toMiddle Persian texts is given byZabihollah Safa:
Gayōmart Gar-shāh (King of the Mountains) was the first humanUhrmazd created. Before Gayōmart came, in the fifth "Gāh" (Ahura Mazda created the world in six Gāhs)Gavevagdāt (the primordial ox) had beencreated from mud inErān-vēdj (which was the middle of the earth) on the right side of the river "Veh-Dāit" ... In the sixth "Gāh" Gayōmart was created from mud ... on the left side of "Veh-Dāit", to help Uhrmazd and he was created in the form of a 15-year-old boy. They lived for 3000 years in peace, neither eating, speaking nor praying, although Gayōmart was inwardly considering these things. At the end of this 3000-year period (during whichAhriman lay stunned by Uhrmazd'sAhunawar incantation and could do nothing)Jēh (the demonic whore) cried out, awakening him ... whereupon Ahriman and his minions theDīvs fought with the light and, on the first day of spring (i.e. the 1st ofFarvardin, the Iranian New Year) Ahriman leaped forth onto the earth in the form of a dragon. He started to create death, illness, lust, thirst, hunger among all living things and disseminated throughout the world theKyrm (the class of evil creeping things which includes reptiles, insects and rodents) [...] In the catastrophe Gavevagdāt died (this being also the symbol of the old year giving way to the new, as depicted inPersepolis reliefs); and Ahriman left "Astovidat" (a Dīv) to guard Gayōmart, but could not kill him because his time had not yet come [...] he lived for 30 years afterwards and, when, finally, he died, fell upon his left side and shed his semen upon the ground, which was then fertilized by the sun [...] and after 40 years there grewMashya and Mashyana as two rhubarb plants ..."[1][page needed]
But in other Zoroastrian traditions, it is said thatAhura Mazda married his daughterSpenta Armaiti and she gave birth to Keyumars, and later she gave birth toMashya and Mashyana. These traditions are considered to be that Keyumars was born to the same mother as Mashya and Mashyana, and not that Mashya and Mashyana are the children of Keyumars.[2]
.jpg)
"What say you, old bard? Who first designed—
To gain the crown of power among mankind?Who placed the diadem upon his brow?
The record of those days has perished now.Unless one, having borne in memory,
Tales passed by father to son, declare to thee,Who it was who first used the royal style—
And stood at the head of all the mighty file."
Ferdowsi's 11th-centuryepic poem, theShahnameh, begins with the story of Keyumars. He was the first king to arise among humans, who at that time lived in mountain caves and wore the skins of leopards. Keyumars was also the first human to introduce royal practices and the preparation of food and was also the first practitioner of law and justice. He was so powerful that all humans, tame animals, and wild animals paid homage to him. God (Ahura Mazda) granted Keyumars the supernatural radiance called thefarr (Avestanxvarənah), reserved for kings. His sonSiāmak (سیامک) was beloved of all except theDevil,Ahriman, who raised an army under the command of his own demonic son. When the angel Sorush (AvestanSraoša) warned Keyumars, Siāmak led an army of his own. Siāmak accepted a challenge to single combat and died at the hands of the demon.
Keyumars mourned for a year, and thenSorush advised him to fight Ahriman once more. Siāmak's sonHushang (AvestanHaošyaŋha) was grown by this time and led the army that defeated Ahriman's son, who was bound and beheaded. Keyumars died after a thirty-year reign, leaving his throne to Hushang.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) (complete English verse translation)| Preceded by none | Legendary Kings of theShāhnāmeh 0–30 | Succeeded by |
| Texts |
| ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topics |
| ||||||||||||
| Avestan studies | |||||||||||||
| Characters |
|  .jpg) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creatures and animals |
| |||||||||||||||
| Places | ||||||||||||||||
| Structures |
| |||||||||||||||
| Manuscripts | ||||||||||||||||
| Related | ||||||||||||||||
